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| Behind the scenes...this is us. You're welcome. |
This week was pretty
good! I'm surprised by all of the changes taking place, though.
The news came in
a few days ago...Sister Nielson is getting transferred!
She is going to Revere
(Reviuh), so I am truly happy for her to experience the city life, but sad to
have her go. She was hoping to go to Boston at some point. More than that, she
and her companion will be the only English speakers in the zone, as the others
are Spanish Speakers. Hence, she will be able to eat much more spicy food. I
also reminded her she'll be surrounded by black people in the city. All I can
say is she was pretty thrilled to hear that. :)
My new companion will
be Sister Harris. I'm not sure where she's from, but she's been out in the
mission for 6 months. I know this branch will welcome her in--I just hope that
I can do the best job that I can introducing her into the area. Leading the
area can be stressful at first so all I can do is take it one step at a time by
making plans, phone calls, setting up appointments...the list feels endless but
I'm grateful there's a lot to do.
Church yesterday was
very good and uplifting. It was very emotionally tiring, though, so I'll
explain why. To sum up Sacrament Meeting:
Picture a packed full
branch, whose Branch President was about to submit the form to become a ward as
we finally had enough people...all sit in shock with hearts sinking as a member
of the Stake Presidency announced they are adjusting the branch boundaries.
Fourteen families are moving to the Cape Cod branch (including the family I've
shared about who I've had high hopes for who I can relate to through our
similar lifestyles) and five are moving in. There were quite a few tears shed
in testimony meeting as the families leaving expressed their love and gratitude
for the branch members. Even more than that, there were a few youth, including
Amy, who got up to let Sister Nielson know how much she has changed their lives
and helped them through the hard times over the last seven and a half months. I
know it was exactly what Sister Nielson needed to hear all along, as she had
tears streaming down. I couldn't help but fight back tears as well as she has
most certainly impacted my life.
After Sacrament
Meeting, Brother Blackwell pulled us aside to help out with his Sunday School
class for the 14 and 15 year old's. Once again, he shared wisdom and sincere
boldness that increased our motivation. He taught about several pointers, but
one thought he kept emphasizing was "A testimony allows me to harness the
wind." He shared how we should each strive to create an environment where
the other individual--whoever it may be whom we are with--wants to change
through the spirit we can invite. Once Brother Blackwell related this to what
we do as missionaries, he complimented on the spiritual strengths he's seen for
Sister Nielson and I. Since Sister Nielson didn't have the chance to bear her
testimony in sacrament meeting, Brother Blackwell asked her to bear it. The
emotional day continued. The tears came again and spiritual power filled the
room. Sister Nielson related to the youth and shared how she's come to know
over the mission the importance of having the gospel, and how they are already
doing so. We were all uplifted right there and then through the power and her
witness of the Restoration and the love that Jesus Christ extends to us.
During the rest of
church, more people bade goodbye and expressed their love for Sister Nielson.
There were a few who came up to me as well to show their gratitude and
encouragement, which meant a lot as well.
There is a scripture
that reminds me of all of these experiences. During my Book of Mormon studies
this morning, I came across a verse that I've come to love more on the mission.
Jacob 1:10 reads "The people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having
been a great protector for them, having wielded the as word of Laban in their
defence, and having labored in all his days for their welfare--11 Wherefore,
the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name."
I felt that I could
relate to Jacob as he wrote this. I bet Jacob felt he had huge shoes to fill,
as he saw the influence Nephi played in his peoples' lives. Nephi protected
them in every way he could spiritually. He did all that he could for them,
which made them look up to him. Who knows if Jacob sometimes felt like he
didn't do as much as his brother, but as he stated in verse 8 "I,
Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi."
I could sense he felt a great desire to take care of his people as Nephi did.
To be honest, I can say that I can relate to Jacob in this sense, where he saw
how much the people loved Nephi because how much Nephi took care of them.
However, he had faith that the Lord knew how much he could do with the
strengths and talents he was blessed with. I am still striving to discover all
of them, but I know that the Lord still has a great work for me to do in
Plymouth. I also know that we can look to Nephi's example in this
scripture as we can do all that we can to protect those we are with--our
families, our friends, investigators if we are missionaries, those we are in
stewardship of for our callings...the list can go on. We are all surrounded by
sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father who we can reach out to as we seek
the Lord's help, as He knows them best.
For more shenanigans
this week...we got a new investigator! He is the boyfriend (who we found out
they got married secretly recently--that's another story I wish I had time
for!) of a member from our branch. It is such a miracle!!!!! He is from Cape
Verde so he is working on learning English, but it is coming along very well
for him. He began reading the Book of Mormon a couple of weeks ago, and
he's already in Alma 11. He wants to gain knowledge for himself and to draw
closer to Heavenly Father. As we started the first lesson last week with him, I
once again felt the reassuring, peaceful, warm presence of Heavenly Father's
love and understanding in their living room. Teaching a lesson like that was a
moment I have been yearning to experience for a while!
There are a lot of
potential investigators through media referrals, more church related events
coming where people may attend, recent move ins and more that Sister Harris and
I will be busy with for a while. There's going to be quite a bit of
prioritizing and figuring out how to accomplish what's most needed. I'm not
going to lose hope that we are losing quite a few families because I know that
there's still so much good that can come from those moving in. :) I hope to
fully apply Nephi's wisdom to spiritually protect Heavenly Father's sons and daughters
here in the Plymouth Branch. The people here truly are amazing and my love for
them continues to grow.
I love you all! Have
an excellent week!
Sister Roy
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